About
The Mildred Fish-HarnackDemocracy and Human Rights Lecture
A program of the UW-Madison Division of International Studies and the Global Legal Studies Center of the Law School |
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The Mildred Fish-Harnack Human Rights and Democracy Lecture is designed to promote greater understanding of human rights and democracy, and enrich international studies on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The Division of International Studies and the Global Legal Studies Center bring to campus a distinguished individual who has contributed to the cause of human rights through scholarship and leadership. The invited speaker gives a major public lecture, and meets with students and faculty in classrooms or more informal settings. Campus visits also provide guests with the opportunity to learn more about international studies and related activities at UW-Madison.
In Honor of Mildred Fish-Harnack
Arrested in 1942, Arvid Harnack was executed, and Mildred was sentenced to six years hard labor. Hitler reviewed the verdict, however, and ordered a retrial which produced a death sentence. She was guillotined on February 16, 1943, the only American civilian to be executed by Hitler as an underground conspirator. In 1986, the Wisconsin legislature passed a bill naming September 16, Harnack’s birthdate, “Mildred Harnack Day” in Wisconsin. The Division of International Studies and the Global Legal Studies Center are proud to honor her courage, idealism, and self-sacrifice with this lecture series.
See Also:
Mildred Fish-Harnack information at the UW Archives
Mildred Fish-Harnack on wikipedia
The "Back to Berlin" series on WISCTV
"Resisting Hitler: Mildred Harnack and the Red Orchestra" by Shareen Blair Brysac
Mildred Fish-Harnack Genealogy Information
The Mildred Fish-Harnack TRACES history
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Lectures in the SeriesPierre Sauvage
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Mildred Fish-Harnack, a native of Milwaukee, was a vibrant and active student while at the UW-Madison. Her strong beliefs in democracy and freedom were mirrored in the heroic anti-Nazi resistance work in which she and her husband engaged during World War II.Upon earning a bachelor’s degree in 1925 and a master’s degree in 1926 from UW-Madison, Fish-Harnack taught in the English Department and wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal and the Wisconsin Literary Magazine. She married Arvid Harnack, a young German graduate student, and returned with him to Germany. Mildred taught American literature at the University of Berlin while Arvid worked on the American desk at the Ministry of Economics. During the 1930s, they watched the rise of Hitler, which represented the antithesis of their democratic ideals honed while students at UW-Madison. At great risk, the Harnacks organized a resistance group of more than 130 men and women. They arranged the escape of dissidents and Jews, published an underground newsletter, and gave economic information to the U.S. and Soviet embassies in Berlin. After Germany’s invasion of Russia, the group transmitted military intelligence to Moscow via radio “concerts,” prompting the Gestapo to dub them the “Red Orchestra.”